RFC 4880, "OpenPGP Message Format", November 2007

Note: This RFC has been updated by RFC 5581

Errata ID: 2202
Status: Rejected
Type: Technical
Publication Format(s) : TEXT
Reported By: Constantin Hagemeier
Date Reported: 2010-04-28
Rejected by: Sean Turner
Date Rejected: 2010-07-20

Section 4.4.1. says:

   0 - The packet has a one-octet length.  The header is 2 octets long.

   1 - The packet has a two-octet length.  The header is 3 octets long.

   2 - The packet has a four-octet length.  The header is 5 octets long.

It should say:

   0 - The packet body has a one-octet length.  The header is 2 octets
       long.

   1 - The packet body has a two-octet length.  The header is 3 octets
       long.

   2 - The packet body has a four-octet length.  The header is 5 octets
       long.

Notes:

The packet consists of header and body. The encoded length is the length
of the packet body.
--VERIFIER NOTES--
The language is clear in the document. The Body Length refers to the length of the body. Colloquially, the document calls this the packet length, but OpenPGP is hardly unique in being a TLV record system in which the length is the length of the value, not of the Tag, Length, and Value.

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